


Nesting

by fate_ality



Series: Jonelias Week '20 [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Daydreaming, Fantasizing, JonElias Week 2020, M/M, bc Jon likes to organize like a grandpa, elias daydreaming about not being a lonely asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:15:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26167756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fate_ality/pseuds/fate_ality
Summary: Gertrude was a means to an end.  A tool.Jon, however, was shaping up to be a partner.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Jonelias Week '20 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900285
Comments: 2
Kudos: 104





	Nesting

“I have to warn you: it's an awful mess. I don't even think the woman knew the meaning of the word ‘clean’.”

Jon stands a little straighter. “Well, I'm sure I'll get it straightened out in no time, Elias”.

Elias chuckles. “I would wait until you see what I mean”.

There's a little thread of cobweb on the back of Jon’s sweater, and he pulls it away without his new Archivist’s attention drawn. He is thinking hard; ever so anxious about what the archives look like. His mind is already turning ideas for organization over in his head, and it almost pains Elias to open the door and reveal what the poor Archivist has to work with.

Jon stutters to a halt, observing the mess of a room. “What on earth…?”

Jon slowly picks his way into the room, observing and scanning the dust, clutter, and sprawl of unmarked boxes and scattered flurry of manilla folders that fanned the floor, desk, and shelf like discarded feathers in a bird’s nest. His anticipation of knowledge spread out before him dissolved like a dream in the dusty light of harsh reality that is the archives.

“Indeed. I apologize for the state of things. I hadn’t wanted to have anyone come in, just in case Gertrude returns, but it looks to be as if that won’t be the case,” he says with a thin smile.

He expects the immediate subservience, the ‘No, it’s okay, I’ll take care of it’ that typically follows such statements by himself, even if they are masking anger or hate for him.

He doesn’t expect Jon to spin to him and exclaim, “Why didn’t you stop her?!”

Elias blinks.

Jon wanders the office in quick, unbalanced movements, trying not to step on anything and failing miserably as he rambles, half to Elias, half to himself, and wholly wondering aloud to the universe why disorder was even allowed to exist in the first place. “Oh, good lord, this place is a wreck! What did she do, use the statements as substrate?! How can one find  _ anything _ in here, let alone call this place an archive! There’s no numbering or lettering system, there’s no dates, no sections, no- no  _ anything!  _ Why didn’t you stop her?! Surely you must have noticed what a detriment she was! This is  _ not- _ When you said it was a  _ wreck _ I was expecting a few boxes of misfilings, a bit of backlog that’s piled from the absence, but  _ this…! _ This is just  _ repulsive! _ How is anyone meant to find anything in this god forsaken- It looks like a damn hamster cage in here-!”

Elias watches, mystified, as Jon immediately starts flitting about, stacking boxes and moving things around, trying to bring order to the absolute mess of an archive. It’s like watching a bird nest, and Elias watches Jon, surely longer than necessary, flutter about moving things into a slight impression of order, all the while chirping angrily at the lack of systems and asking Elias why he hadn’t  _ stopped _ her.

Elias thinks he falls a little in love with Jon right then.

The complete and utter indignation of a space that had only just become his- and hadn’t even really registered in his mind yet of his possession- endeared him a bit. His immediate protective nature over the records and knowledge is admirable, and Elias immediately knows he won't have to worry about Jon ever doing this, even if he hates Elias as much as Gertrude had. Jon thrives on order, if a little controlled chaos; but he always had a system. The instinctual drive to organize and protect nurtures a bud of affection in Elias’s chest at the sight.

“I mean,  _ seriously- _ this is just-” Jon turns around, glasses askew, cobwebs and dust littering his pushed up sleeves, and realized with dawning horror that he's just been essentially bitching at his boss for almost ten minutes.

Elias also realized he's been smiling a bit too softly for his own tastes, just watching the new Archivist nest amongst the files.

“I- I mean- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-” Jon tried to stutter, fumbling for an apology.

Elias waves it away and his jaw clicks shut. “It's fine. I couldn't really… reprimand that woman. She was my senior, you know? And it wasn't as if we were in much of a position where we could fire her, really,” Elias brushes off, looking around the room that's already looking a bit better. He watches Jon, who wants to argue, furiously fight himself not to. “Why don't you head home today and get a clean start on organizing Monday? Go home, make some plans, and come back with a clear head. I'm sure it's a shock to see how much our pride and joy of the Institute has…  _ dilapidated.  _ I'm sure I can trust you to straighten things out soon enough”.

Jon grits his teeth and manages a, “We’ll see,” that Elias immediately knows that the second he leaves, Jon is going to go right back to cleaning. A nostalgic part of Elias wants to join him; to roll up his own sleeves and get back into the statements that had once just been many letters from colleagues. To clean them up with his new partner.

But alas, he does have appearances to keep up, and he doesn’t think Jon will actually do it now that he’s watching Elias watch him. Oh, well. 

And so, Elias bids him farewell with a small, professional smile. He closes the door, smoothes his suit, and begins his ascendance back to his office, watching the new Archivist through the camera in the corner of the archives. At first, Jon simply stands in the room, looking around with severe disdain and tired determination. His mind is turning with ideas and solutions. Jon’s mind is imagining a tidy room, with a simple but effective system. Jon walks around, examining the damage so to speak, and assessing the best place to start. 

He wants to dive right in. Elias can practically feel the ache, the itch of disorder and the desire to bring a sense of organization to the uncontrolled chaos that Gertrude wreaked on his poor archives. His sense of disgust with the disorganization, the purposefully dilapidated nature of the archives that she wrecked in a crude attempt to weaken him and The Eye. Jon’s opinion of the former Archivist has plummeted from mild workplace respect, to deep irritation and disappointment.

Gertrude had been a means to an end. He hadn’t liked her, hadn’t particularly had her in  _ mind _ when he gave her the job, but she had been the most suitable candidate at the time. He’d needed her focus, her deeply embedded sense of responsibility; he didn’t need her to like him or want the Watcher’s Crown for it to come to fruition. She just had to  _ do her part _ , knowingly or not, and that would be that. Elias could reap the benefits and he could leave her somewhere she could rot and that would be that. And if the Crown failed a second time, then it was always possible she would perish, and that was fine too.

Jon, however…

Jon was different. It was like the man was  _ made _ to be The Archivist, and not just  _ an  _ archivist like she had. His very nature suited Beholding better than any other he’d seen before; His inherent desire to learn, no matter the cost. His paranoia of other people. His little mark left by The Web, crossing a mark off the long list.

...And his immediate desire for  _ order. _

Elias watched, with both amusement and admiration, as Jon was already trying to organize and clean his office. He hadn’t even  _ asked _ him to, even suggested he start on it after the weekend, but Jon had dug his heels in and was placing files into boxes, stacking the boxes, and numbering them with a salvaged sticky-note pad and permanent marker. Digging a little deeper into his mind, Elias found some even more delightful news: Jonathan wasn’t organizing solely for praise, or respect (although there were some parts that were hoping Elias would see his effort and not immediately throw him out), but was cleaning and organizing by the pure, driven neuroticism of needing order.

Elias smiled, sitting down in his chair and watched as The Eye budded in his Archivist. Getrude had been a temporary solution at  _ best _ , and she’d served her purpose well enough in the end, but Jonathan…

...Jonathan was someone he could see being his partner. Someone that had all the right foundations that he could build on. He could just imagine him, shining with all the light of their god, standing at his side while they Watched the world around them. No Darkness too deep to cloud their gaze, no Vastness too incomprehensive… Just blissful Sight.

But he shouldn’t get ahead of himself. That was far in the future. For now though… it couldn’t hurt to put a bit of structure on those foundations.

He made a note to invite Jon to dinner next Friday to celebrate his promotion, and for the rest of the day, Watched his new Archivist preen his nest.


End file.
